#(and very genuinely I want to know what she did to publish this without being lawsuited by dolly parton)

[cool-as-steel]

finished steadfast — as expected, the extremely compelling setup did not turn land on its feet as well as hoped, but I had fun anyways

[dollypopup]

penelope, intentions, privacy, and the infantalization of innocence

or: a call to see Penelope as the complicated character she actually is

there has been, for some good time now, a sense in the general fandom space that hinges on Penelope being a perfect angel who did everything she did out of altruism, or a feeling of separating or minimizing her actions through Whistledown, divorcing her from her decisions (in the classic 'she had no choice' or 'no one listened to her as Pen' fabrications). and i am here to, once again, beg for a nuanced look at her, and in particular those who cared for her whom she hurt deeply

let's dig in

Lady Whistledown is Penelope's coping mechanism, and it is clear from the first article she wrote. Penelope is posturing, putting on a front. This first article is the root of her intentions, the core of what she hopes for, and the mold for which she wishes to be. Just read some of these lines

I know people better than they know themselves. I can see what is happening behind closed doors better than those behind them.

This is an act, a falsity. Penelope *doesn't* know more about people than they know about themselves. How could she? She is largely ignored by the general populace. She wrote this article before she was even out in society. She had little access to balls or information, her sisters debuted with her, and her mother and father weren't particularly popular members of the community. What Penelope knew of others, she knew from external observations.

This is where the falsification first begins: she can't possibly see what is happening behind closed doors, but she wants to. Penelope is an outsider wanting to look in, wanting to look in so deeply that she understands and knows others in intimate ways without putting in the hard work of gaining their trust. LW being published before Penelope is out in the general society is proof of Penelope's powerlessness in the general scheme of Mayfair: and she has a right to feel that way. She is not particularly cared for in her own family, nor is she listened to by them. She is angry. Her friendship with Eloise is one in which two girls who are both frustrated with their circumstances come to meet.

The fact that such a thing could be printed with, essentially, her allowance, is also proof that she is disregarded as she is. No one notices when she is gone, she is, by and large, invisible. As such, she doubles down on the power fantasy of Lady Whistledown.

Do not try to close your doors tighter to protect your privacy as I may already be inside. And thus I will slowly get inside each and everyone's head.

I don't know about you, but reading that is chilling. Though of course I am taking it with the modern perspective of living in an age where privacy continues to be stripped, there's something particularly cruel about insisting that you are inescapable. It's written in a way that is intended as a threat, followed by

No need to panic, I will be fair, gentle reader

and this is where Penelope's intentions come in. Do I believe she genuinely and truly wanted to be fair? Yes. Do I believe Penelope has a well developed sense of what fairness entails? ABSOLUTELY NOT. And she's not SUPPOSED to. Because Penelope also perpetuates her own invisibility, even in the midst of her pride in writing Whistledown. Penelope punches down repeatedly, but she does not think she is doing so. For Penelope the person, she is 'exposing the truth' in a general sense of hard hitting journalism, but Lady Whistledown, her persona, cultivated a power others don't have. When she wrote of the unnamed Modiste unfavorably, she ran her out of business: because LW has the power and privilege of being heard, the power and privilege to ruin lives and reputations, to sequester people to bad opinions and derision.

And one of the first people she does this to is her mum and her family, including herself. In the very first LW article, she mentions only the Featheringtons and the Bridgertons, along with one other lady, Miss Boltenston, who Penelope writes would be best for a suitor who prefers bedtime conversation as opposed to other activities.

Three misses. Foisted upon the marriage market like sorrowful sows by their tasteless, tactless dear mama-- the luckless souls.

Then, when discussing the Bridgertons, the only people who have been seen as being genuinely nice to her, she writes that they're perfect, full of refinement, "four perfectly handsome sons and four perfectly beautiful daughters. Yes. Perfect, indeed"

but this isn't meant to be a compliment. In particular when we go back and listen to Eloise's hunt for LW and her conversation with Penelope at her door.

"Whistledown is someone free and unencumbered by society, she is a single woman of means, better yet she is a widow who would be invited to all the events but not paid any attention, so while you are at the ball-"

"Eloise I do not care! People have real problems, mature problems, problems that have nothing to do with the secret identity of some silly writer. " "And you are so mature now?" "I am of age, I am out in society, therefor I have more important mature things to worry about." "Like what?" "Like marriage." "You do not care about marriage." "What if I do!? I do not expect you to understand. Not everyone can be a pretty Bridgerton."

There's a resentment that Penelope has for the Bridgertons. She loves them, absolutely, but we can't sit here and deny that Penelope isn't jealous and doesn't discuss it or dig deeper into those feelings to unwrap or unlearn them. There are reasons for it, of course, but this is a facet of her character that often gets overlooked. And it keeps her from opening up. To Colin and to Eloise.

I exhaust of the perfect Miss Penelope Featherington, always the victim of other people's harms, always doing everything she does because she's such a #good person. It leaves the door shut to her growth. Penelope has good INTENTIONS with bad outcomes. She hopes that she will, herself, not be corrupted by the power she so criticizes others for misusing, but she falls into the same pitfalls and that is compelling as hell to explore.

My intention is not to shed any blood but to shed some light on the true events in our society. My words, though might be hurtful, are not meant to be mean. They are meant to be fair . .be prepared to hear the truth about yourself and your kin.

I'm glad she acknowledged that her words would be hurtful, though she hides behind what she intends as opposed to the outcome. Because she absolutely did shed blood, she genuinely could have killed Marina with what she published. And after she does so, she comes back from it still owning that bloodshed, for she writes things such as 'sharpening my knives for you' and hailing her pen as a weapon. There's no indication she wrote to her cousin or offered any support or condolences. She has to ask Colin how Marina is doing, as though she does not know on her own.

Penelope wants to be a good person who does good things. But goodness is not black and white and Penelope falls deeper and deeper into her LW persona internally whilst pretending she is unchanged on the exterior.

There's a line in the book, when she says 'Maybe I grew up' and that's what I need from her in S3. This is, largely, a very long essay more so in response to a fandom version of Penelope than the real Penelope, because the show does show her actions as being wrong. Penelope cries and agonizes over her choices because she knows they aren't good, but she does them anyway because her idea of what should happen matters more than other people's agency in their decisions.

People talk about how Eloise was a bad friend to Penelope, how she didn't listen to her, but in reality, Penelope did not actually talk to her, save to tell her she has different life goals than Eloise does. So many moments in which Penelope could confide in her that she does not take.

In particularly, I think about after Penelope's father passes, and Eloise visits her. This comes at the heels of Penelope exposing Marina's pregnancy to the ton and publicly destroying Colin's engagement to her, as well as Eloise saving her from being caught by the Queen.

"The ones we love have the power to inflict the greatest scars. For what thing is more fragile than the human heart?"

And then Eloise comforting her. Telling her

"I am here, Pen, to help you to find a reason every day to enjoy in the absence of your dear Papa. I know you shall miss him."

to which Penelope replies with

"Share something good. What happened with Whistledown? Did you save Mdm. Delecroix?"

No discussion of how she actually feels, only a deflection, even as Eloise assures her she has a friend. But Penelope already knows what Eloise will tell her with this response, and also knows that she has the wrong idea of who Whistledown is, but she would rather have a conversation she knows the outcome to than spill open to her closest friend. That's lonely as hell. Penelope forces herself to be apart, as well. It's a behavior she needs to unlearn.

Penelope keeps her own secrets but cannot allow others to do so. She spirals in what she perceives to be her own powerlessness whilst her actions have the most impact, good and bad, upon near everyone in her vicinity.

Eloise tells her: "You are my friend, and I do not wish for secrets to set us apart" and though Penelope agrees, she does not confide in her. Even when it comes to Eloise's relationship to Theo and her burgeoning romantic feelings for him, something she confesses to Penelope, asking if she can relate, Penelope does not offer the same vulnerability. Instead, she insists that people already know about her relationship with Theo, and Eloise trusts her, though it's untrue. No one else was talking about Eloise and Theo, and yes, Penelope writing about her as LW was wrong and awful, but a more intimate pain she inflicted was that Penelope was encouraging Eloise away from him and away from her own feelings.

Eloise even tells Theo: "People are already talking about us" when they almost kiss as a reason for them to stop seeing each other. But no one is. This is a lie Penelope tells Eloise.

and this takes me to the final act of it all: People DO listen to Penelope. The people who MATTER listen to her and encourage her. There are constant discussions of how Eloise does not listen or how Colin didn't listen, but looking back at those conversations and interactions: Eloise and Colin listen to Penelope very closely, in fact.

Eloise repeats things Penelope says to her, trusts what she says. Yes, she is often talking to Penelope and 'using her as a sounding board' because that is what friends do. Balance comes when both parties do so. Penelope does not do the same back. She does not discuss, she does not say what she means, what she feels, what she believes.

And she does the same to Colin. Colin who wrote her letters for months. Colin who recognizes her intentions. Colin who talks to her about his hopes and plans, an action she does not reciprocate up until S2 when they talk after the botched wedding. Even when Colin asks how she's been after they meet for the first time that season, she lies and says it's all fine. This comes from an assumption from her that he doesn't care about her because he doesn't love her romantically, but Colin obviously cares a lot for Pen. Even in S1 he cares about her deeply and earnestly. I don't understand the narrative of him not listening to her, because I think he listens to and hears her more than almost anyone else does.

Even in this conversation

"I believe you deserve to know" "Is there something on my face? Has it been there all evening? It has hasn't it? Sorry, go on." "I have wanted to talk to you since the engagement was announced but we have always been in company" "So this is something about Marina?" "Her heart belongs to another." "What?" "His name is Sir George Crane, he is a first son, a soldier, they rent the neighboring properties in the country, I am sorry Colin, but I have seen their love letters. I thought you should know before it is too late." "You really are very good, you know that? Do you think that I would care she had fond feelings for another before we met? It would be rather rich of me considering I've flirted with half the girls in London at one point or another." "No, you misunderstand, this was no mere flirtation, Marina loves this man, she loves him still." "And yet she is marrying me."

This conversation is often cited as proof that Colin doesn't listen to her, but reading it: he is listening very clearly. She told him Marina loved someone else before, he replied that it doesn't matter (can we take a moment to applaud him for this, also? that's a really mature response from him) and then when she tries to clarify, she does so by telling him that she loves someone else. But that's not what she actually wants to say.

What she's saying is to dissolve the engagement and she believes Colin the kind of person who would cut ties with someone who loved someone else before, but he isn't. It's not that he isn't listening to her, it's that he IS and he isn't responding in the way she wants. This scene is ALSO Colin asking Penelope to understand him, to understand his choices, to support him as well. He ends this conversation with a plea: Trust me, Pen, do not fret. Asking for her to take him seriously. Instead of trusting him, trusting him to his decisions, trusting him with the truth, she instead takes matters back into her own hands.

Because what she publishes is

"As if the Featheringtons did not have enough to be dealing with, Miss Marina Thompson is with child. And she has been from the very first day she arrived in our fair city."

That is HEAPS different from what she talked to Colin about, but it solidifies her innocence to him, because at the core of it, she wants PARTS of what Whistledown is, but not all of it. She WANTS Colin to see her as good and she wants to have a soft love story with him, all at the cost of who she actually is. She sanitizes herself for Colin because she does not understand or cannot face that he already has affection for her as she already is, that she can trust him for who HE is. He isn't in love with her (yet) because she hasn't shown him who she is in her entirety, but he DOES love her, regardless.

(Which I think is so beautiful. Here is a person who refuses time and time again to be open and vulnerable (because of her own trauma and complications, no shade, we've all been there) and yet he sees that she's special and keeps opening the door for her to talk to him. Let it never be said that Colin doesn't have a special place for her in his heart, regardless of a SINGULAR comment of his that she heard out of context)

Colin and Eloise are constantly asking how she's doing, constantly leaning in to see what she says, and the brief moments in when she confides in them, they obviously keep it close and recognize those moments as being special. It's Penelope who has to contest with the mortifying ordeal of being known: and that is her character arc. Her character arc is not that she did nothing wrong because no one else would listen, they do, but even when they don't (and Marina doesn't HAVE to listen to her about dissolving the engagement. Marina had to look out for her own wellbeing and the wellbeing of her future family and she had every right to considering everyone proved to her that no one else will) Penelope has Eloise and Penelope has Colin, two people who care deeply for her. Who she has written about and betrayed trust in. Who she needs to apologize to and make amends. And no, an apology is not 'I'm sorry, but I did it because X', Eloise didn't want excuses from Pen, she wanted accountability, and she was right to demand it.

Because the beautiful thing is that we have ALL hurt our friends, we have all been the bad friend, and we have all fucked up immensely, and such things make us human and capable of change, something Penelope is continuously denied as a character in the uwu perfect baby narrative that gets cultivated.

I think this quote sums up her dissonance very well

"Perhaps I will come forward one day, though you must know dear reader, that decision should be left entirely up to me."

at the end of it, this is a conversation about trust and agency. Penelope upholds her own privacy, her own right to secrecy, and denies everyone else the same, including people who adore her. Colin and Eloise and Marina all become villains in this light as opposed to what they actually are: People with their own wants and dreams who also deserve their own right to privacy. And my personal hope is that with who LW is in the show, Penelope recognizes that she doesn't need that persona as a coping mechanism. Not in her friendship with Eloise and not in her romance with Colin. She does not need LW to be heard because she *is* heard. She only needs to say what she really means.

In her very first article, Penelope writes

"Hiding behind this paper is a brave person who can protect herself with a pen."

but when Eloise tells her she is "Sequestered here in this very room, writing your secret little scandal sheet, tarnishing everyone in town, all because you are too scared to stand up for yourself in reality" she takes that to heart and gets defensive and furious because at the core of things, it's TRUE. it hurt her *because* it was true. Penelope does NOT stand nor speak up for herself in the light, only in her writing. and it doesn't have to be that way.

her character arc is growing to the point where she can do so. where she no longer needs LW to speak on her opinions or how she feels, where she doesn't rely on it. her character arc IS to become brave. people ALREADY like her. they already see her insight as valuable. LW is a coping mechanism Penelope used because she thought no one else listened, but they prove her wrong and she has to grapple with that. she is loved and she needs to learn to accept it. she is loved and she did bad things. she can make mistakes and still be loved. she can own what she's done and know she is surrounded by people who care for her to the point of accountability.

and isn't that just so much more satisfying?

[rainybraindays]

Seeing people call book Colin abusive and being like "he had no reason to be so mad about Whistledown )):" and like...yeah he kinda did?

Whistledown may notbe as bad in the books but she is in everyones business still, shes spreading gossip, and people do have a desire to find her. Hes afraid of what happens when they do. Because hes right, Cressida, to most people is the more pleasing option because shes popular but not liked and conventionally attractive and people will more easily shrug it off. They'll still be mad but they'll consider it par for the course with her and move on. Some may not even believe her, like Lady Danbury but if no one else comes forward they've no reason to think otherwise.

Penelope, short, chubby, unimportant to most everyone Penelope? That will piss them off. She doesn't have the social capital to keep herself from being ostracized, people will be pissed this person they look down on, a spinster, someone who never even talks, had such control over their lives.

Colins worried, he says it himself, about this, about he risks shes been taking for over a decade. Hes jealous she's found something thats her and he feels like he hasn't done the sames. Hes mad hes been lied to, feels like hes been made fun of with his Eloise theory, but most of all hes in love and hes frightened by the prospect of what could have happened to her. By what still could happen to her if she was found out.

The other scene also often quoted as Colin being abusive is him grabbing her arm at their engagement ball.

Do you remember what happened in that scene?

An issue of Whistledown is distributed midball, the one that ends up giving Cressida enough to blackmail her mind you, the one Colin had asked her not to publish and thought she had agreed not to. Penelopes inner dialog tells us this wasn't planned. She'd planned it for a different ball, so she can enjoy hers, she knows Colins going to be mad, and I bet you she doesn't want to argue on their happy day. Colin grabbing her, while done in anger, has always read to me less as some rage fueled behavior with no thought, but as a way to keep her from trying to sip away. He knows she doesn’t wana have this argument again. He likely doesn't even want to have this argument, but he knows they have to.

People often view this scenes as Colin being physically aggressive and this unbelievabley abusive person. They look at this, and have been yowling about how he treats her so unfairly. This fandon is horrible about not looking at the entire scene. The carriage scene has them arguing, Penelope bites back at him just as much as he snaps at her. Their engament ball fight leads to their first night together. This is them seeing each other at their worst. And in the end they still choose wach other

His anger isn't entirely jealous like some try to paint it. Theres genuine worry, hes afraid for her he says so himself. People keep saying how Penelope is afraid of him but shes not thats made clear several times. She's more afraid of them arguing because she thinks that it'll be enough to make him not choose her.

These arguments are necessary. They help Colin see her as a whole person, it helps him solidify that his feelings are as deep as he thinks. It helps Penelope see him as a whole person as well not just the man shes been crushing on her whole life, which she mentions in the book. It shows that they can get through the big issues in their relationship without falling apart.

And remember Cressida blackmails Penelope. Very much one of the things Colin was afraid of. The only reason he can do the big reveal is because its after they're married, and he tells Anthony and Simon whats happening beforehand. She has far more social capital as a Bridgerton wife than she ever did as a Featherington daughter

Should Colin have grabbed her? Maybe not, but I don't think thats enough to label him as an abusive asshole unworthy of love. You don’t always make the best decision, but one slip, especially one so minor as grabbing your partner so they can't slip away before you get to talk to them about a issue you know they won't like talking about, does not make you horribly abusive like some of you suggest.

And another related side note, a huge thing i see ALL the time, is how Colin's anger comes out of nowhere.

"ooooh in the other books colin doesn't have an angry bone in his body, hes so nice and relaxed, how could Quinn write him as such an ass in his own."

A temper not often showing is not the same as it not existing. When he says he wouldn't marry Penelope in the books? Very much an angry scene. Hes being teased after having her pushed on him by his mother, and hes tired of it and snaps aggressively to make it stop. Colin has always had a temper, it just wasn't nearly as important to the other books thus not explored. I know he says in the book how he doesn't think he has one, but we also tend to push away traits we view as negative when thinking on ourselves.

Anyway, please remember that Show Colin is going to have the worst reaction to the Whistledown reveal, as said by the cast themselves, and I'm kinda living for it.

[beyondtheglowingstars]

Ok!! Now that my questions have been answered- could I request a fic or some headcanons (either or, i dont mind) with Warriors from Linked Universe with a gender neutral s/o who's been really burntout recently? Like maybe s/o is like some sort of publisher or scholar for the royal family or sm and has been working non-stop and now suddenly they're just exhausted and can't find the energy to keep working-

Wars, being the good boyfriend he is, realises his s/o has been hauled up in their study not really coming out for anything but food, water etc.

so a little scenario of wars going to check up on them would be nice<3 something fluffy and comforting with just a hint of angst if you rly squint ya know?

If theres smt you wanna change or dont want to do then thats fine! Take your time with it :>

I look forward to seeing what you do! and thanks for responding to my questions earlier

Hi hi! Sorry once again for this being late, but I hope you like it and that it maybe brightened your day even if just slightly.

Thank you for such nice words! They're a huge motivator for me.

Warriors with a burnt-out s/o (hcs)

You were feeling burnt-out? And were stressing so much that you hadn't been coming out for anything other than fulfilling your basic needs?? Warriors just wouldn't allow that. Not a chance.

If only you had seen his face when Zelda let him know what was happening. She was genuinely concerned for your well being and tried to help you several times, but she truly knew Link was the only remedy to the problem.

Warriors would immediately go back to the chain not to ask for permission from Time, he would basically give the command himself that they would stay near the castle for as long as it took for you to feel better.

He didn't tell them this, but if it bothered anyone, then they could go on without him and he'd join back until he knew you were doing better.

Time understood the power that love had over people, and guessed that it may not be so bad for them to take some time off, so he didn't protest. He'd make sure to keep some of the boys away from Warriors and you as much as he could so you had some time together.

Warriors would gently knock the door to your room while calling you your affectionate nickname.

The first thing that happens after opening that door is you getting scooped in his strong arms and being given two smooches. One on your forehead and another on your lips.

He sits down with you and holds you close, asking about how you've been doing while he was gone.

If you wanted to talk or vent for a while, he'll sit there without problem and listen to all you have to say, maybe shedding a tear or two himself if you need to cry. He'll give you a nice, tender kiss at the end.

If you don't wanna share much, that's okay too. He'll lovingly tell you more reassuring words than you can think of and will keep holding you for as long as you need.

Don't think he doesn't have any more to offer, he's very excited to gift you everything he's gotten for you in his travels.

He's taking you out to the town after that.

Whatever is it that you want from the vendors, he'll get it for you.

He'd be telling you about the most fun parts of his adventure, making sure to make it as entertaining as he can.

When you crack a big smile he's gonna feel the proudest he ever has.

He'd be so happy to see that you're finally enjoying yourself. He knows very well why it's so important to take your mind off of responsibilities every once in a while.

After a long day, he's taking you back to your room and spoiling you as much as he can.

He knew you'd be tired, so he may have asked for help from one of the castle maids before he saw you earlier in the day. You come back to find everything spotless and tidy.

Before you have any time to ask him what is it that he did, he's already making you comfortable and getting your sleeping clothes.

He's cuddling with you to sleep. Doesn't matter if you're the big or small spoon, he's just content to be close to you and knowing that you're feeling better now.

He wishes he could stay by your side from that day on and forget about everything else, but he knows he's gonna have to leave soon, and is preparing for it.

In the meantime, he'd make sure you both enjoy your time together as much as possible.

[trans-cuchulainn]

i had a friend who got a massive book deal, translated into 12 languages or something right off the bat, huge publicity campaign, etc. and we weren't very close friends, just online acquaintances via a particular community, and she'd been inactive there for a while due to being busy, so there was no, like, regular contact between us. which meant for several months i had this kind of festering jealousy, but i did my best never to show it, because we were acquaintances if not friends, and that would be mean, i was supposed to be happy for her. i just... didn't have enough personal associations to disrupt those feelings, you know?

and then when the book came out, she was doing an event fairly near me, at a bookshop i had been looking for an excuse to visit. (it was far enough away that it required a specific journey.) she normally lived in another country but her publisher had arranged this uk tour, because, big book deal, meaning it was a rare chance for us to meet. so i went along, planning how i would introduce myself: "hey, i used to be in that group chat with you, not sure if you remember..." she would not, i thought, remember me or recognise me without context, and this was going to be embarrassing, but i would power through

the event, when i got there, was actually pretty small. i sat myself in the front row because it made it easier to prop my cane up in front of me without getting in anyone's way, and waited

and she walked in. and she saw me. and she went "oh my god! néide, is that you?" and, ignoring that she was meant to be starting the event, came over and hugged me. "how are you? i had no idea you'd be here, this is so cool!", genuinely curious, genuinely happy to see me to the point of throwing off the professional author persona entirely, apparently genuinely thrilled that i had come at all. after the event, we chatted for a while and took pictures together for me to send to the group chat and all of that, holding up the whole signing line until i eventually pointed out she should probably talk to someone else and ducked out

and you know what? while i still feel a level of professional jealousy (which i think is natural when you work in a similar/adjacent field to someone), on a personal level, the resentment is GONE. because she was kind. because she put our acquaintanceship above the event for one minute and treated me like a friend even though we hadn't chatted in months. i have had acquaintances who left everyone else for dust when they found success, but it was wrong of me to assume this friend would do that without any evidence of it, and she proved that to me in a moment

i don't have a moral here, this is just an anecdote that i think about sometimes. it's hard when you have successful friends but it taught me that if i am ever in the position of being the successful friend, i want to be the one who makes them think "oh but they're so kind, though, i legit can't resent them" and not the one who prompts a "wow well they pissed off as soon as they made it, didn't they? fuck them then". i can't guarantee to recognise my internet friends on sight because i am faceblind as fuck but. i want to be the one who takes time for the people i care about, no matter what else is going on

and. yeah. i can hold a grudge like nobody's business but i can also hold whatever the positive equivalent of a grudge is. "that person was nice to me once when i was feeling insecure and i have never, ever forgotten it" can be just as powerful, sometimes, as "that person was a bitch to me and I never forgave them"

so, i want to be the kind of person people hold positive grudges about

[sporesgalaxy]

Not mad saying this or anything and feel free to ignore me I don’t control you but I just wanted to say as someone who has actually seen Oppenheimer (and trust me it’s a long movie with a heavy subject and a lot of loud noise so it’s not for everyone and I’m not gonna say everyone has to see it) and Barbie I wanted to say Oppenheimer really isn’t military propaganda it is very much about the indifference of the government and military towards death in pursuit of power and the evils of atomic weaponry. Minor spoilers but the movie just straight up ends with saying the invention of the bomb destroyed the world (while showing warheads and military weapons) it’s very much a film that paints the government and war and invention of the bombs in an extremely negative light and of course being about a man who actually existed it isn’t perfectly accurate to how he may have felt but I do think its worthwhile to watch if you can handle the subject matter and a long movie like that because I felt like it was the first movie about a war in a long time that actually doesn’t glorify any of it. Sorry for long ask I’m passionate about film and I feel like people are forming these opinions without any real knowledge of the actual film itself while just deciding since it’s about war it’s bad. It isn’t for everyone and I would never say you HAVE to see it because like I said it’s a heavy subject but it IS a film I actually recommend for those who can handle it.

Also yeah the Barbie movie is definitely gonna sell a lot of dolls Mattel wouldn’t ok it otherwise but by itself it is very worth watching and really a beautiful film about existing as a woman and the intentions behind Barbie vs what she became and a bunch of other important and beautiful things.

Sorry to write an essay in your inbox like I said I’m very passionate about film and I kind of just wanted to like. Share that Oppenheimer is in fact not pro military or war and if someone watches it and thinks it was in favor of any of the events depicted I don’t think they really understood the film or even paid attention to it because it was pretty on the nose about how bad stuff was.

Again feel free to delete or ignore or whatever you do. you don’t have to publish this or do anything other than I hope read it. And again I’m not mad or vindictive towards you I just have strong feelings about movies.

Ah, I knew I was being reductive in those tags calling them "both propaganda" but I had just woken up and considered it close enough. Apologies all the same.

Interesting to know that the film apparently isn't pro-war! I am much more interested in watching it for myself knowing that, although I'll admit my curiosity is not entirely in good faith. I'm interested in the history of WW2 and the Cold War and there are a lot of easy stumbling blocks and common points of oversimplification and misrepresentation, even for anti-war media. I'm curious to know how much nuance the film really manages to take into consideration in this regard.

I have heard from critics of Oppenheimer who did watch the film that it made no mention of the Navajo people who were radiation-poisoned for generations because of the nuclear testing in New Mexico. I think even if the film is anti-war and anti-weaponry, this oversight was a mistake that wastes compelling support for the anti-war argument, and undercuts itself in doing so.

I apologize again for misrepresenting what I expect from the Barbie movie. Interviews with the director and advertisements have made it clear that the movie aims to have a feminist message, which from what I have seen will probably be a strong and philosophically sound argument.

Still, there's a counterargument to be made that this ultimately serves as another example of a brand capitalizing on values-based marketing (i.e. the Gilette razor ad ["short film"] about toxic masculinity bring uncool). I think that addressing it that way is more than a little reductive, but I genuinely assumed that this was the reasoning behind pairing Barbie and Oppenheimer in memes (besides their clear tonal juxtaposition and shared opening day).

[firstkanaphans]

hii! i'm a big fan of your fanfics, and as an aspiring writer myself, sometimes I feel sad 'cause I know and feel like I won't ever be as good as you are ☹️ I know I shouldn't compare myself, and I'm trying to get better at it, so I would genuinely like to ask, are there any tips you'd give to authors out there trying to improve? either their writing skills, plot ideas, planning and stuff. thank you, either way, love you! can't wait for your next work ❣️

So, the first thing I want to say is that I have been writing for a long time. I published my first fanfic when I was 12 years old and I’m 31 now, so I’ve been actively writing for the past 19 years (!!!) with almost no break. The way someone explained it to me once was to look at your years writing like levels in a video game. I’m currently at level 19. If you’ve been writing for ten years, you’re at level 10 and it’s certainly not fair to compare yourself to me because the only thing that’s truly going to make you a better writer is to write.

I’m assuming since you called yourself an “aspiring writer” that your eventual goal is publication, so I’ll gear my recommendations towards that. Fanfiction is a completely different animal, but a lot of these tips are applicable to both. The biggest difference is that there’s a lot more freedom in fanfiction. You can write what you want without worrying about three-act structures and you don’t have to invest any work in making people care about the characters because they already do. It is worth noting, however, that if you write, you’re already a writer. 

First, I highly recommend that you read “Save the Cat” by Blake Snyder. It changed my life and I’m not even kidding. It’s an absolutely fantastic book on writing and although it’s geared towards screenwriting instead of novels, everything is still applicable. (There’s actually a newer version called Save the Cat Writes a Novel, but I’ve never actually read that one so I don’t know if it’s as good.) He goes over how to plot a story and also how to write likable characters, which is surprisingly one of the hardest parts of writing original fiction.

The second biggest tip I can give you is to let yourself write badly. Editing is easier than writing. The most important thing is to get words down on the page. You would not believe how bad my first drafts are—and that’s not just me being coy. Honestly, the next time I sit down to write a fanfic, I might save my first draft for anyone who’s interested to read because my first drafts are always bad. Like legitimately. There’s a lot of freedom in letting yourself fail and your writing will turn out better for it.

I would also recommend getting a professional critique if you are able to because you’re never truly going to know what it is you need to improve upon unless someone tells you. Signing up for a writing retreat is a great way to do this or you can look for online critiquing services. I’ve gotten several chapter critiques from Scribbler in the past and I found them very helpful.

But truly, the most important thing is to just have fun. I heard Lin-Manuel Miranda talking about writing Hamilton once and he said that what he constantly kept asking himself was, “If no one else ever sees this, will writing it still have been worth it?” And for him, it was. That’s the kind of energy I try to write with. I write what I want when I want and if I find myself struggling to write a scene because it’s boring, I do something to make it not boring instead. Change things up! Have fun! Because otherwise, what’s the point?

About six years ago, a friend of mine said virtually the same thing you did in this ask: “I’ll never be as good as you.” She had been writing for less than a year at the time. We lost touch when I left fandom to pursue original fiction, but when I came back last year, I looked her up again. She has a Tumblr ficlet pinned at the top of her page with 10K+ notes. I could never.

So don’t count yourself out yet. Just keep writing.

[transpersian]

Hey just wanted to say sorry for how aggressive my anons were a bit ago I was having an episode and taking it out on you because I started to delusively see you as one of my past abusers because some of the things you had said reminded me of what everyone who supported them and and the things that my abusers themself have said.

I still think you're a rape apologist in actions considering you think coercion based SA and rape is funny and nonexistent but I shouldn't have actively been aggressive and having a full blown psychotic episode in your inbox.

HEY READ THIS FIRST BIG CW FOR SA AND R*** DISCUSSION

Okay, now read the ask and then continue below.

Hey, anon. I'm sorry that happened to you, genuinely. It's okay, I don't mind. It's not that uncommon to get that kind of message in here.

While you were (aggressively) telling me to publish your previous asks, now I'm going to assume that you don't want me to since they were the product of an episode. I'm still going to do my best to respond to some of your statements here.

First-off, I have to tell you that I myself am an SA survivor. The main one happened in 2020 and I haven't been able to feel safe enough to connect intimately during sex since. As a demisexual, that's a special kind of shitty.

Another more complicated sexually traumatic incident as a teenager.

There's another one my memories are kind of weird around, so I just don't touch it.

But you need to understand that I take it very seriously, anon. I do.

I'm wondering if you would be able to re-read my document and see yourself in my position. Invalidated. Brushed aside. Attacked. Pushed to begging and then reprimanded for it. Left with an indefinite break for two weeks on top of the originally requested week, with no notification. Left to watch her celebrate her birthday without me.

She talks about BPD and FPs. She was the first person I was able to trust since 2.5 years of my personal nightmare of abuse. She knew this, and she just left me hanging.

We have friends that have heard them mention letting relationships "whither" instead of actually ending things healthily and fairly for the other party. They don't fucking care. They just do what's most emotionally convenient for them.

I don't know how you read through the whole thing and just brushed it off as nothing, unless you didn't actually read it and just listened to what Poppy and Liana have been saying. Please, read it for yourself if you haven't.

If you already have, then I'd ask you to read it again without such prejudice against me. I'm not operating off of any breakup feelings. I'm operating off of the testimonies of many, many people I've spoken to about the things she's done to them.

The kind of logic that she's using to justify calling what happened to her SA is the same kind of logic people use against trans people about disclosure.

I'm not defending SA. I'm saying that I know more of the story and Poppy is lying about several things that change things drastically.

I'm not doing this because of our breakup. I'll keep saying it as much as I have to: I'm with Hela now and we're fucking adorably, happily in love together. I got over the breakup in August.

And trust me, anon. You can wish your trauma on me, but I promise you I've got more than you might think. I'm not what they're saying I am. When it comes to what I do behind the scenes, I am meticulous and thorough and work very hard to consider as many potential consequences of decisions as possible.

Where did I say anything about "norms of a relationship?" I'm being genuine, anon, I'm confused. Please send me a link to whatever you're referring to so I can understand whatever this is.

As for the risk of this, I'm not going to discuss it publicly for now beyond saying this: the risk of harm from doing it is far less than the risk of harm from not.

You don't have to believe me, but I promise you, there's more to this than I can simply convey here and I fully believe that I'm doing the right thing.

This isn't about vengeance or bitterness over some breakup. This is about protecting people.

I hope you'll give me a chance when the next drop happens, anon. Please take care.

And please, notice how being around Poppy and reading her story makes you feel, physically, in your body.

If Poppy is running a community that's meant to be a safe haven for survivors of all kinds of trauma, explicitly including CSA...

Why is she using that same community to process the extremely raw trauma of her experience?

All debate about the semantics of her situation aside, this is an extremely fucking triggering subject.

At the very least, it's extremely irresponsible and unethical.

[whetstonefires]

spiral emoji and umbrella emoji for the ask game?

🌀Post the fic summary for a fic you haven't written/published yet. It can be hypothetical or something you really plan on releasing...

hmmm i have had another segment of that AU where Carrie Kelly is Tim's Robin mostly written for years, I keep fiddling with the ending. it's one of those fics i'm gonna summarize with an excerpt, I'm thinking this one:

Robin almost tripped over herself, stopping so hard, but she sorted her limbs out without actually falling down the roof, and dropped into a defensive stance. “Who are you?” she demanded. The stranger cocked his head. “I’m Batman,” he said. His voice was a little less deep than Tim’s, flatter and throatier, so that instead of making a pronouncement from on high, he came off as stating crushingly obvious fact. Robin glared. “You’re not.” “Am.” “I’m Robin! I know Batman. You’re not him.” This Batman’s mouth twitched with amusement, almost the same way Tim’s did. “Other Batman.”

☔Is there a fic concept you have that you'd like to just explain and share because you're not sure you'll ever write it? If so, what is it?

You know this is hard. I don't generally remember ideas existed if I don't write at least 2k of them down immediately ngl. And from my abandoned drafts there's so many....oh!

Okay here's one that I think is super funny but I can tell I'm never gonna finish. I was complaining in the groupchat that I'd just read a fic that asked me to believe modern AU Wei Wuxian dated Jin Zixun, got dumped by him, and was broken up about it. Impossible.

I was like, if you want to use an existing villain as a fuckboi ex, still why pick the guy who never once had the power to do anything to Wei Wuxian except annoy him? There's options! And then like. We've actually seen shitty boyfriend Wen Chao done, usually a coercion situation. Xue Yang is a semi-plausible abusive ex if you make them the same age and shift some other variables around, seen that.

You know what none of us had seen? Su She.

And it's weird people don't use Su She for this! He's pretty capable, he's a hard worker, he has to be decent looking if he was allowed to be a Lan disciple, he's not totally dumb. He's deeply selfish but in a mildly complicated way. He's dollar store option Lan Wangji, that's his whole bag!

If you're going to have wwx settling for shitty guys (which like I think that's really ooc because Wei Wuxian had no particular interest in having a love life before it turned out he was hip-deep in True Love and he's a brutal judge of character, but if that's your plot, maybe he's doing some queer version of comphet where you gotta be with someone or your identity isn't valid idk) Su She should be at the top of the list.

Now, for my money, with my fairly demanding standards wrt character motive, I can't see Su She successfully bagging wwx without being genuinely into him, because Wei Wuxian's nose for bullshit is superhumanly powerful. But that's not hard to set up.

All you need to justify Su She pursuing Wei Wuxian with genuine intent is for Wei Wuxian to validate Su She's feelings at a critical moment when they're young--say, coming across him directly following the Waterborne Abyss arc, when Su She was no doubt given the rough side of Lan Qiren's tongue at the very least, for losing his sword and being ungracious and so forth. And sympathizing with all his intense feelings of being hard-done-by and disrespected and so forth. (We will assume there was not outright treacherous behavior from Su She at this point.)

Su She will demonstrably follow you to the ends of the earth and through a river of blood for making him feel properly valued. I do wonder whether he's an orphan or just has shit parents. (I wonder this about Jin Zixun also lmao. His parents wouldn't actually need to be shitty, if they were just totally overruled by Jin Guangshan.)

A lot of what he admires in Jin Guangyao is also true of wwx; when they met wwx was on top of the world, making him a target of envy and resentment, but you could definitely reshuffle that if you started early and showed Su She the right background cards.

And Wei Wuxian does not usually decide he likes people who turn out not to deserve it, through a combination of strong insight, the fact that his faith in people typically inspires them to return that devotion, and that it's just not that kind of story. But he is strongly biased to keep liking someone once he starts, in a funny ADHD kinda way where he doesn't really think about you if you're not there but treats you like no time has passed when you come back, so if he decided this ridiculous sulky unLanish Lan was his friend it would take a lot to change his mind. Su She would remind him of both Jiang Cheng and Lan Zhan, which would help.

The other half of the brainstorming, that had a plot rather than just character setup, was a modern AU fic where (as I've seen done a couple of times) Lan Wangji was dating Mo Xuanyu in the attempt to get over Wei Wuxian, and Wei Wuxian was dating Su She, who unlike Lan Wangji actually like. Said something. Out loud with his mouth words lmao.

And then, probably by watching lwj watch wwx at a party or something, Su She figured out that Lan Wangji was pining for his boyfriend, and because of his intrinsic jealous shithead qualities he was ecstatic because he finally had something Lan Wangji wanted and couldn't have.

So he went out of his way to gloat and flaunt, and kind of lost track of the actual reasons he had sought out this relationship in the first place in favor of his weird Hanguang-jun complex.

And ultimately he destroys both relationships--poor Mo Xuanyu ah?--and fucks himself over, and you get a wangxian endgame.

I actually seriously considered really writing this, from Su She pov mostly, but the thing was the 'scenario for wwx to attract su she's loyalty' was grounded in the canon setup and the dating scenario required a low-homophobia modern setting, and just thinking about doing the worldbuilding to make them match made me tired and bored. I don't like modern AUs and their chief virtue is recontextualization in a familiar context, if I've gotta build some kinda smushworld then where's the value added?

And the idea, while very funny, just isn't my thing enough to dig in and work for. I'm not inspired by dating drama. If anyone wants to adopt it they're welcome!

Here's a bit (set in the smushworld) I wrote that I really liked, where su she and wwx are texting back and forth in their late teens:

>Jiang Cheng would never forgive me if I ran off. >Because he’s counting on you to run his Sect for him. >He absolutely is not. Jiang Cheng will work himself into the ground before he lets me do his job for him. He didn’t admit that of course the Sect Heir was counting on him, but he didn’t disagree, which was basically the same thing. Wei Wuxian worked very hard, for all it looked like he didn't, and was rewarded for it, but Su Minshan knew that even in Jiang the equal opportunity only went so far—he was the Sect Leader’s pet for personal reasons, not just on merit, and even so he could never rise to be the equal of the blood heir. It was infuriating sometimes how that didn’t bother him. Have more ambition! >You’re so lucky, Su Minshan wrote, because he was jealous, he was so so jealous. It was just hard to hate Wei Wuxian. >I am! <3 But let’s see, outside the main family how important can a person get in Lan Sect? You can make a plan. Weeks of effort did not produce any particularly good plans. The most realistic one took forty years to show results. >Maybe I should just kill Lan Wangji and use a spell to disguise myself and take his place, Su Minshan joked. >Haha! Minshan-xiong, I’m sorry, you couldn’t pull off being Lan Zhan. That hurt, an unexpected cold dagger to the ribs. Wei Wuxian was his friend! >Why not! he typed angrily. Was his playing too weak, his swordsmanship, his deportment? Would even Wei Wuxian tell him he was just not good enough? >Because you could never resist saying something bitchy when you had the chance, and he keeps all the bitching inside his head. Su Minshan put his head down and laughed until he thought he might cry.

[mermaidsirennikita]

I'm really interested to hear your thoughts on Flowers From the Storm. I had mixed feelings about it. I liked how problematic the hero was, it felt very real for him as a rake to be a shitty person (even if I don't love the evil baby mama plot trope). I just found that the heroine did not work for me. But that plot was absolutely wild, and having just read Kleypas' Prince of Dreams I'm kinda missing the truly bonkers plots of old school historical romances.

I finished it last night, and I hope you don't mind me publishing this because while I get that it isn't for everyone (though I'll be real, I don't get the absolute haters for this book--I literally had someone on GR comment "don't read it, it's horrible" when I put this under Want to Read, unprovoked, and I'd never spoken to this person before lol) it is pretty undeniably a huge book on a genre level, imo. To do the shit this book did at the point in time that it did is kind of massively daring. And I do think that while there are some big swings and BIG MISSES from older historicals in terms of plot, I personally feel like part of the reason why the subgenre is going through such a slump in terms of popularity is that it doesn't swing as much anymore. Trad is trying to make historicals feel smaller, safer, more homey, like a lot of popular contemporaries.

The thing is that the audience for contemporaries wants those contemporaries. Just going outside of those small scale books (no shade, it's totally fine if that's your thing) is too much for a lot of people who consider that their niche. The readers who do NOT want those contemporaries don't want a book just because it's not a romcom. The books have to embrace their genres. If I'm going to read a fantasy romance, I want it to take big swings; same for historicals, paranormals, sci-fi romances. Even books that I consider fairly safe and homey for their subgenre, like Ice Planet Barbarians, are still so much wackier than those safe contemporaries. So HR, imo, is not going to pick up again until we see more of those BIG SWING books.

Anyway, onto Flowers from the Storm.

--I get why Maddy is a frustrating heroine to many, but I think I really liked that about her. She felt very authentic. Often, we see heroines who ostensibly have these "of the times" convictions in historicals, but then really don't follow through on a big level. I fucking love Scandalous Desires and I see no issue with this take, but Silence is a heroine like that--she's a Quaker, and it basically translates to "being good and a little sanctimonious". She caves without regret when she gets with Mickey, and she's letting him eat her out against a wall in no time.

I liked that Maddy's religious (and social) convictions as a Quaker MATTERED to her, and it made the moment towards the end feel a lot bigger. It made the act of her falling in love with Christian, essentially against her will, much bigger. She would have done basically ANYTHING to avoid loving him, because to her, being in love with him meant not only displeasing God and her community, but giving up what she'd always known and what she believed was the morally right thing. But she literally couldn't help falling in love with him. The feeling was too immense.

--I've never suffered the kind of TBI Christian suffered, and I don't have a lot of (close) people in my life who have, but based on things I've heard and read it felt like Kinsale made a big effort to accurately (or as accurately as possible) portray the immense frustration and confusion he felt during recovery. It was genuinely horrifying to read his early perspective--still the same person, stuck in his own mind, with all this knowledge right at his fingertips while being unable to grasp it. He knew what he wanted to communicate, he just didn't know how, and that is... terrifying. And devastating.

At the same time, I think the book (and his POV specifically) could've been a suffer-slog that would've ended up being more condescending than helpful, if not for the way that Kinsale so brilliantly made it clear that Christian WAS still himself. Like, yes, he was being horribly abused in this awful institution, but also... He was a haughty duke who thought himself better than the people abusing him, wanted to wear fancy clothes, and pretty quickly was devising ways to fuck this Quaker.

--Even though the sex is relatively light (I mean, pretty solid for the early 1990s in a historical, and in my opinion hotter than For My Lady's Heart but of course nowhere near my beloved Shadowheart) I found this book immensely sexy. And I want to say, I do think this was a really progressive move for the era in which the book was written. Christian is disabled, he is most definitely a fully grown adult man who can consent (whether or not he can verbalize his consent is another thing for much of the book), and he wants to, and very much can, FUCK. He can and does seduce--for a lot of the book, lol.

When we consider not only the depiction of disabled people in romance at the time (practically nonexistent) but the depiction of disabled people onscreen... Especially when the disability was related to the brain and communication the way Christian's is--there is such an infantilization, and there really still is on a very real level. The idea that because someone is disabled, they can't consent, they can't want sex and romance, they can't take an active role in procuring those things for themselves. It's so condescending and dehumanizing, and I really loved that the book didn't do that to him.

I mean, the cultural perceptions surrounding these issues are so real that I still see multiple reviews on GR saying that they felt uncomfortable with the sex scenes because they saw Christian as "infantile". At no point in this man's perspective is he EVER infantile. He's frustrated at points, which causes him to lash out in anger, something I doubt I would be able to resist in his position. He has a hard time getting words out, something he progressively improves upon over time (though, I did appreciate that the book ends with Christian still not having the exact same speaking style he had before his stroke, and the reality that some functions are just probably never going to be the exact same). He's fully an adult man.

But because there is that PERCEPTION, people just override that and somehow find him having (mutually enjoyable, loving) sex with Maddy uncomfortable. I mean, all the books where the hero kidnaps the heroine or basically forces her to have sex with him are fine, I guess, but a disabled man fucking hard is apparently distressing.

Anyway, long and short of it is, as someone who considers sex in romance novels to be incredibly important................... I thought that bit where he talked Hamlet to her before yanking her skirts up while she was all "BUT WE CAN'T FUCK NOW!!!!! IT'S DAYLIGHT!!!!!" was so.... delightful. I also really liked Maddy's sexual journey; it's a great awakening arc, and it obviously is such a huge metaphor for her very literally becoming a woman of the world and earthbound in a way that I don't think she allowed herself to be prior.

--Great cast of supporting characters. Love Durham and his dipshittery. Love Fane being like "you know Maddy I would fuck you if you wanted me to" in front of Christian. Loved Maddy's dad who clearly wanted her to get with hot math duke from day one. Loved Christian's aunt, who like, sucked on a lot of levels but was also hilariously and dumb practical in a way I appreciated. Walked in on them making out on the floor and went "well at least you're not gonna have an issue with getting her pregnant :/".

--I actually don't have a big issue with the baby mama plot, tbh. Could Eydie have been a more dimensional character? Yeah, but I find certain character types to be like... really symbolic of the era, and I don't mind them. She's very daytime soap, and I personally like those characters. To be honest, a lot of her behavior made sense to me, as a woman of the era and in her situation. Was it like, great behavior? No, but I didn't find a lot of it inherently evil so much as it was asshole-ish, but in a way in which I understood why she was that kind of person. I don't think that girl had much of a chance, and I appreciated that Christian even inwardly acknowledged that he basically led Eydie on. She was desperate for him to propose, it seemed like he might, and then she got stuck with this shitty husband. Popped out a couple of sons for that husband, finally got the guy she'd been pining for since before she was married into her bed, he got her pregnant and then maybe DIED??? Came back from the dead, doesn't want her or (in her perspective) their child. Now she's doing really poorly financially, with a kid she has a lot of mixed feelings about..........

Honestly, it was all kind of worth it to me for the scene where he looks down at his own baby like it's a kitten he's told the kids he's NOT keeping, and then slowly is like "fuck it I'm keeping it". Like, he really loves that baby, as much as he very much doesn't want to. This is really a book about loving people you don't wanna love, lol.

--The ending was fabulous, no notes, what a moment, couldn't even begin to handle that shit. "I WILL WAIT OUTSIDE FOR FIVE MINUTES AND IF YOU AREN'T THERE IN FIVE MINUTES I'LL BE GONE FOREVER" and then it cuts to him like "it had been over an hour and he was still there".

So yeah, 11/10, I loved it/

[hislittleraincloud]

💭RAMBLING WENOVAN THOUGHTS💭

I've had this in my drafts for a couple of days, so whatever.

Y'all know I like to mess with AI and filters and all that shit

I've done quite a bit nunya have seen, centered around an (much) Older Wednesday, which means aging puppy-faced Jenna up...I can rlly say that for once this is an improvement over the original

But I'm still thinking that Afterburn Wednesday will still age verrrrry slowly...like here with this AI-enhanced photo I'd put her around Donovan's current age (which would have left her without him for...20-something years? Just a sec while I break out my calc...23 years...but that's only if I go through with his current death plans).

I got a couple more positive comments on my story, which lifted me up a bit. New readers, even. 🫠💖✨ I think what people who look at my ships or look at what I write about their ships then look at my ship forget that I'm writing this mainly from Wednesday's perspective as a young, introverted, hypersexual steampunk stoner girl who is attracted to way older men; Donovan's POV is secondary. And she doesn't want to just fuck him, that girl wants dominion over him 💀🤣 This isn't some shitty little schoolgirl crush, like Morticia implied. This is the result of a misanthrope spending her first 15.91 years contemplating what she wanted in a friend and life partner, and the serendipitous circumstances upon which they met.

One person mentioned that the smut is its own character. 🫠💦💦💦💦💦 I thought that was an astute observation. I tend to keep uh...writing more and more of that character. (I write from experience. 🙊✨) Today, in fact, I proceeded to continue to write smut that happened on November 12, 2023 (yes, just a few days ago). <strike>And depending how I end it, I can't fucking publish it until next year because of a certain circumstances going on in their lives at this point would be a major spoiler.</strike> (ETA: This is what I decided was publishable. But I've its graphic and extras to put together.) But it's nice smut. They're very happy together right now, in spite of everything that's happened with Tyler and Laurel (who survive in my story...so far). The only thing Afterburn Wednesday isn't happy about on November 18, 2023, is that she feels like she can't ever talk about her life, even though she doesn't want to.

Trust, she's writing up notes for her memoirs, but even though she doesn't like to talk to people in general, she just wishes she had the option of talking about it, which she can't, unless she talks to her parents, Fester, Thing, or Enid (and Eugene), and she doesn't care about those options. She feels like if she opens up about Donovan to others, people will make her out to be a victim/him out to be a predator, and that's the last thing she wants. She genuinely adores him and the way he makes her feel, and even though she hates talking about her feelings, she would like to believe that she could talk freely if she ever needed to, but she can't because people will judge him. She doesn't care much about herself being judged by others, but she does care a lot about the men that she loves and about their being judged because of her presence in their lives. (Scene I just added to takes place in February 2024 and she assaults someone who was whispering about her and Donovan 💀)

I'm rambling. It's 1 AM. I'm guessing that right now, they're probably asleep. Together, in Mansville, with Elvis in a fancy new pet bed that Wednesday matched with the cabin's drapes. Isn't that nice? 🥰 Did they have the sexings? Maybe. Whether or not they did, she's sleeping in his arm, cuddled in and curled around him. She falls asleep in his arm curled either way (koala hug or Little Spoon), and it's become her favorite thing to do at night (even over sex). Most of the time, AB Wednesday will fall asleep with her little fingers scratching his beard, and Donovan will move her hand to his chest once it drops due to her slumber. Sometimes her fingers move after; sometimes not.

If Donovan falls asleep first, Wednesday's brain continues to race (because she's always thinking about something). She's done a lot less weed in the past year, so that is affecting her moods/behaviors. She constantly worries about his health--yes, yes, we knew that was gonna be a big issue, but she bought the house and land outright, no need to moan about a mortgage--and has paid good money to hire them a chef and personal trainer (y'all gonna laugh or cry when I get his personal trainer up in a scene) to get him into better health...so far over the course of a year, he's quit drinking spirits and is more muscular in the trunk area, and losing a little bit of fat down in the pelvic area means more room for certain appendages to shine...Fun fact: AB Wednesday was a bit 'off' in her eye-measurement of Donovan's cock. He's not a 'Peacemaker' at 7.5 inches. He's more like 8 and 3/8 inches hard, once she used the measuring tape she found in the woodworking room of the cabin. She is making his life better.

Still rambling here (now it's almost 2 since I also sit here and think about what I wanted to say re: all this shit). So how did he make her life better? Besides getting ((SPOILER)) and then ((SPOILER))? It could very well be argued that either of those things he did didn't make her life better at all, and that they might have even ruined it. But that's an argument for our world, because the premise of the AB world is that sometimes 'impossible' things do work out, as hard as they can seem. Because it's fiction. Anything can happen in fiction and it needn't be something that aligns morally, or even logistically, with our world (since it's not our world!).

...Well shit. I need to take my own damn advice and just re-write some of that shit that was If You Don't Woe Me By Now.

Back to Wenovan working out. She feels her life is better because of both ((SPOILERS)). She knows she's young and inexperienced (learned those lessons in S1 and S2), but she also just wants to get on with her life with Donovan. And earlier in the summer, she decided that she is choosing a new path within forensics...and I won't say which path bc that's a giveaway for another part of the story. But it is a path that would keep her busy in Jericho, along with the other things that keep her new roots firmly planted in that quaint little town (rather, Mansville is where she's chosen to live when she's not at Donovan's house...though I'm not sure if they live there anymore? I'd have to check my longer outline). To her, Mansville is the perfect place to live, love, and write, which is what she's done quite a bit of, since moving in last year. She may even graduate Nevermore early, depending on other factors.

Still rambling and giving away little insights into where my fictional couple is in real time/what they've already done since November 2022. Ah right, the parents issue. The relationship between Morticia and Wednesday remains strained and even moreso after revelations in After the Burn. Still, it was Morticia who helped talk Gomez down from hiring a hitman and getting him to accept Wednesday's wishes to be with Donovan. Wednesday was also able to convince Gomez to take the rhodium mine that was to be hers on her eighteenth birthday and put it in Donovan's name, so they needn't ever worry about money. And of course he did it...anything for his little girl (who he can now see isn't so little anymore). There were other things that Wednesday was set to inherit on her eighteenth, but it was the mine that she wanted (and needed) now. One ton has already brought in over $100 million since the transfer of ownership. Neither of these two ever have to work again (especially after Wednesday inherits the bulk of the fortune), so that probably counts as a plus on how they as fictional couple can work.

It's much harder when you're trying to own a home or raise a family or whatnot and have zero money to do it (obvs.). There is a power dynamic at work from the beginning here, and whether people want to admit it or not, rich people have a very green power that people like and respect, and I would argue that the power imbalance here is caused by Wednesday's billionaire heiress status (Gomez was listed as a fictional billionaire back in the 90s). She literally has the power to buy the sheriff's office off, much like how the Gates Family did with Sheriff Walker. She can bribe dirty cops in Donovan's department. She could've bribed Noble. She told Dr. Kinbott straight out that she could pay to make people disappear. Money is power. To say that Wednesday has no power over any of these people 'because she's a kid [sic]' is a grave mistake (no pun intended), and Donovan caved into both of their desires because part of him was scared of what she would do if he outright refused her; y'all say things like "He's the adult, he needs to be better!" but forget that this 'girl' is not a 'harmless child'...she's physically maimed people who piss her off (Dalton, her editor). When Donovan thought that maybe she'd set bears on him, it was a legit fear. 😂 The POINT is that Wednesday is scary and you don't want to piss her off OR say "no" to her (because saying no would piss her off...). And she uses that creepy persona to get what she wants (like how she did it with Ajax in my last upload). It's highly manipulative.

Anyway. You should seeeeee the gift Wednesday got for Donovan in July. Holy shit, it was extravagant. But since that story also contains a huge spoiler, I can't publish that one either (yet).

And I know they're (technically) billionaires, but I need a scene where Donovan goes off about the price of bread, because $7 a loaf is insane. Wednesday will have their chef start making bread for them. Which yanno...for them costs $40 an hour 🤣 But whatever keeps him from acting like an old man yelling at kids to get off his lawn.

It's an odd coupling, but the Addamses are odd, and Wednesday just isn't the average sixteen (now seventeen!) year old. Like Ortega herself, AB Wednesday talks like she's 45. Her brain matches Donovan's brain more than it does her peers (as was Kinbott's observation). She feels safe with him--despite what occurred in canon--and feels like she can be herself around him, learn useful things from him, and never has to want for anything with him. And that's what we all want for N/C Wednesday. And Donovan. The man's been through Hell, and while he's still wondering if he's on a weird acid trip, he's got a lovely young ((and spoiled)) partner to revive the spirit in him that was crushed by life. ✨🖤💖💙✨

[detrasystem]

hey! this is chance & here’s this week’s prompt. what websites or resources do you use while you write or develop a character/story? what do you think of them and would you recommend them?

hi chance!! tysm for the ask, this is such a kind and fun thing for you to be doing 💕

i have a LOT of resources to talk about with regard to this prompt. i'm actually planning in-depth posts for almost all of these, but for now i'll list out the things i absolutely cannot live without when developing a story.

websites

Random Generators. i have literally been to hundreds of random generator sites over the years, and they have become an absolutely invaluable resource for generating ideas, whether it's for a character name or a complete adventure. one of my all-time favorites, Chaotic Shiny, introduced me to the concept of NaNoWriMo and thus the writing community at large! i'd also recommend Seventh Sanctum and, as i'm sure everyone's already familiar, FantasyNameGenerators.com. each website is completely independent, some are still being updated to this day, and they each have a different Vibe to them so all three can be used depending on what kind of ideas you want to spark at the moment. HIGHLY recommend this unrestrained summer fun.

Springhole.net. this is kind of an expansion on the above, because there are some fantastic random generators on this site, but there's so much more here, too. in-depth advice for character development, worldbuilding, writing in general...it's great. and criminally underrated!

Susan Dennard's newsletter. Susan Dennard is the author of the Witchland series, among other things, and she's been keeping a long-running advice newsletter for writers for a LONG time. she's traditionally published and often has some great insight into the publishing world as well as just generally really good tips for writers of any stage. i'm not personally a fan of her books, but i am a fan of her advice. <3

YouTube. ok. hear me out. this could be for a few different things. i find it kind of fun to see how other writers tackle the writing process, so i'll watch writing vlogs every now and then--Kate Cavanaugh Writes is by far THEE best channel out there for this. her videos are excellently edited, her joy of writing is contagious, and she does a lot of fun and inspiring writing challenges! i often get bored watching people just stare at a camera and talk for 30 minutes straight, but her videos are Absolutely not like that so they're really easy to watch.

but even if you're not into vlogs, did you know that there's a whole subset of (mostly Japanese) YouTubers who make royalty free music and just like...post it? and it's GOOD? like genuinely?? go check out PeriTune right now and thank me later. i'm one of those writers that NEEDS music to write and develop characters so PeriTune (and the others that will eventually get recommended to you the more you watch their videos GHNGDFHG) makes the perfect background music for scenes, locations, characters, etc. and did i mention it's insanely good for being 100% free?

this isn't a resource for development, per se, but i can't recommend 4thewords enough. it's an online word processor that turns writing into an RPG: battle monsters by writing words during a certain time limit, and then complete quests with the loot you earn from your battles! there's a free 30 day trial for new users, and if you're participating in NaNoWriMo, the devs usually put coupons for free writing time during those months, so if you're not constantly in need of drafting several words at once, you really don't have to spend a cent. though 4thewords IS independently owned and developed by a wonderful team of writers who are very inclusive, so i do recommend supporting them if you can. :-) one month starts at $4, and if you use my referral code IRZVE23798 you and i both get free "crystals" that count toward subscription time <3

books/publications

there are two writing craft books i need EVERYONE to read, regardless of medium. Damn Fine Story by Chuck Wendig, and 27 Essential Principles of Story by Daniel Joshua Rubin. this is not the writing advice you've heard before. this is not elitist, prescribed advice. these are two books that will change the way you THINK about story, no matter how experienced you are. i am ALWAYS consulting these books. they live on my desk permanently.

Writer's Digest. i will admit to being subscribed to this magazine (and Poets & Writers), and for good reason! each bi-monthly issue is full of insider information about the publishing industry, creative writing prompts, and great food for thought about the craft. even if you can't/don't want to subscribe to the magazine, their website is full of great articles to get the inspiration flowing.

Publishers Weekly. i just check their website out periodically, to get a pulse on what's getting published these days, and by whom. if you want to be traditionally published, it's ALWAYS a good idea to understand the trends of the industry; plus, reading reviews on PW is a great way to find books to read that you might not have found otherwise.

and finally, of course, if you want to write, you have to read. like. i cannot stress this enough. find books that speak to you. reading others' work is essential to finding out what kind of techniques, tropes, characterizations, etc you LIKE as well as DON'T like. some people don't like reading in their genre for fear of accidentally plagiarizing, but i'm in the camp that NEEDS to read in my genre to get the right words into my brain so i can spit them all back later. no matter how or why you read, though, you gotta do it. even if it's just one novel that you read over and over again to keep getting inspired. GO TO YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY. thank you.

[lingshanhermit]

Lingshan Hermit: The Cunning Level of Human "Ego"

In the third season of "American Crime Story," it recounts the impeachment incident of that philandering president in the American political arena at the end of the twentieth century. Unlike most, my attention, rather than being primarily on the central figure, Monica Lewinsky, was more on Clinton. I was more interested in his reactions when facing questions. When Bill Clinton was questioned by independent prosecutor Starr about the so-called "Zippergate" incident, his responses and sophistry showed us how cunning a person's "ego" can be and to what extent someone can play with words. When Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr asked Clinton if he had sexual relations with Lewinsky, Clinton showcased his strong argumentative skills, coming from his background in law. He claimed that his intimate encounters with Lewinsky, by his definition, were not sexual relations since he did not intend to pleasure her – she was the one pleasing him.

Such scenes are not unfamiliar to me. Due to my role, I often play a part similar to that of Prosecutor Starr, frequently questioning students who have erred. Typically, I do this to help them uncover their true motives and the underlying values. So, I am no stranger to such scenarios. By consistently dealing with students' "egos," I have had the chance to see how different individuals' "egos" find ways out. I know what they will say, do, how they will argue, and how they will evade. When people's "egos" are cornered, their basic reactions are mostly predictable. Only a few of the best can straightforwardly admit their mistakes, while most will dodge and weave. I recall an instance when our kitchen water purifier broke and needed repair. When it was dismantled, the worker found that it was domestically assembled, even though the person responsible for purchasing it told me it was a Korean brand. When questioned about this, after some hesitation, he claimed that the main components were from Korea, so in his mind, it was Korean.

See? This is the human "ego". When they want to "protect themselves", they can utter the most absurd justifications. Such excuses are eerily reminiscent of Bill Clinton's sophistry.

If you plan to embark on a spiritual journey, the first thing you shouldn't be doing is seeking ceremonial empowerment, studying scriptures, or immersing yourself in seemingly profound Buddhist teachings. The very first thing you need to do is to learn to be honest. If you aren't honest with yourself and your spiritual teacher, you can't even begin your spiritual journey. Because the starting point of such a journey is honesty, recognizing your state. Only by recognizing your true self can you genuinely begin. Most people live in the illusion that they are on such a path. Learning to be honest is tough; it might take decades. But if you want to walk this path, it's an essential quality. For most people, they are unlikely to learn honesty after they start or learn honesty without starting their spiritual journey. Hence, the only feasible path is to "practice" while learning to be honest.

I'm not saying you should always be honest with everyone, everywhere, and at all times. Our lives today have become incredibly complex. Sometimes, lies become a necessity for survival. However, you must know that there are certain entities and individuals to whom you mustn't lie. If you're dishonest towards the teachings, your mentors, then you are beyond redemption.

Written by Lingshan Hermit on August 13, 2023.

Copyright Notice：All copyrights of Ling Shan Hermit's articles in Simplified and Traditional Chinese, English, and other languages belong to the natural person who owns "Ling Shan Hermit". Please respect copyright. Publishers, media, or individuals (including but not limited to internet media, websites, personal spaces, Weibo, WeChat public accounts, print media) must obtain authorization from Ling Shan Hermit before use. No modifications to the articles are allowed (including: author's name, title, main text content, and punctuation marks). We reserve all legal rights.

灵山居士：人类“自我”的狡猾程度

[suchagallabitch]

Fandom Tag !

i was tagged by the lovely @auds-and-evens & @vintagelacerosette thank you stinks 🥰

Your Name: Elle 😸

Your First Fandom(s): The Hunger Games and Percy Jackson

How did you first get into fandom? I was like 11 so forgive me for not remembering all that well but I honest to god think it was Wattpad 💀 I had always likes to write and I saw that people were writing stories about the books i loved and i was like yeah i gotta do that and now here we are nearing a decade since 😭

How long have you been engaging with fandom spaces? I think I was still in 5th grade when I started reading and writing fanfiction so sufficed to say quite some time

How often do you read fanfics? honestly not very often. I am horrible at consistently reading and like if i have the spare time i would rather write than read BUT i am trying to read more to support my lovely stinky friends and their amazing work 🫶

Top 3 characters from your current fandom(s): Ian Gallagher ofc my favourite man, Mickey That also does without saying and my main woman the woman the myth the legend SHELIA 😩😩😩😩😩😩

Have you ever written a fic for a fandom? if so, shout it out! I have 46 published shameless fics so go read them stinkies 🤨 I will shoutout my favourite(s) though if anyone is in the mood for some galladads

- wasn’t it beautiful running wild till you fell asleep before the monsters caught up to you?

- now i send their babies presents

- but we can patch it up good

- it was as good as our song

Have you ever drawn fanart for a fandom? if so, shout it out! I cannot draw to save my life 😭

Share a personal headcanon that you feel very strongly about: A silly one is that Ian Gallagher is obsessed with SVU idk why thats a constant in my fanfics it just is. An actual serious one I have and I love so dearly is that Carl becomes a social worker. I feel like it makes sense because he wants to help his community out and he went through DCFS so he knows how it feels to be one of those kids. It just makes SO much sense to me especially since it seemed Carl was getting tired of being a cop but still wanted to help. How he passed school? I have no clue. I say Lip and Bryn (my gf oc for him) helped him cheat online school because that feels topical. OH also a fave headcannon is that Ian and Mickey have many many chickens thank you Mel ( @gardenerian ) i am forever obsessed with the chick crew

You're trying to convince a friend to get into your current fandom(s) with you. what episode, clip, or scene are you showing them? That’s actually a funny question for me because once i talked about random shameless plot lines to ky friend for like an hr and she was genuinely so traumatised she couldn’t believe it. another time i showed random clips to a group of my friends i also definitely traumatised them. but then my other two friends started watching the show hc of me. I always say im a plauge on everyone bc we usually end up watching shameless. Bonus my amazing breathtaking spectacular friend had started rhe show a long time ago and is now actively trying to finish it because she wants to read my fanfics 😭😭🥹🫶. I realise i didn’t answer the question but i would show Ian stealing Yev and the sorry im late scene i feel like that encompasses the show pretty well and is enticing

And finally, what does fandom mean to you? This feels like an essay question prompt lol. Idk man a bunch of cool people coming together to make some cool things and consume media together and you know what?? we shlay 🫶

second tag….

name: smelly ellie at your service

age: a year older next week 😇

Where in the world are you? Florida (derogatory)

The meaning behind your UR: Im a gallabitch what can i say i also had this user before i joined the server so maybe im a psychic too

Your second favourite color: my favourite colours are all in a tie with one another so pink yellow and burnt orange are simultaneously my first second and third favourite colour

any pets? my son chidi who is definitely a human inside a cats body

favourite season? Winter! It doesnt get cold here but i can pretend

Last thing you read: The 7 husbands of evelyn hugo i DEVOURED that book i read it in like a day 😭 if anyone wants to chat about this book please come forth

Last song you listened to: (you) on my arm

What are you wearing right now? my work uniform lol i am actively currently not doing my job

A hobby of yours: writing ofc and i would say bitching us also up there. That said i need more hobbies and really wanna (re)learn how to crochet

and finally, what are you up to today? I wish I could say nothing ☹️✊. Gotta finish my shift and then do some school work unfortunately maybe i’ll write a lil who knows!

I’m gonna try and tag some friends i don’t usually in the spirit of fandom ! play along if you please 😌😊

@imikhailo @sam-loves-seb @babygirlmickey @michellemisfit @magnificentcollectivehurricane @secret-gallavich @rereadanon @damnnmilkovich @takeyourpillsbitchh @mickmilkowitch @tear-soaked-cheeksdonteverlast @twinklyylights @milkoviched @firecrxtch @milkovetti @chicanomick @mickeys-been-staying-at-ians @gallavichlover19 @nyhmeriah @ianstummy @mickeys-notebook @filorux @mrmillagher @mixkeymilkovich @too-schoolforcool @adakechi @ian-galagher @tsuga-of-mars @mikhailoaleksandrmilkovich @gallavichgeek @lesbiangallagher @milkovichs @flamingbluepanda @ianspettyagain @callivich 🫶🫶

[ongreenergrasses]

✨ End of Year Questions ✨

tagged by @genyathefirebird thank you 💜 i was apprehensive to answer these because i thought i hadn’t written that much but uh. Turns out i wrote a lot it’s just that nobody’s seen any of it.

What is your favorite thing you created?

i think my favorite is zombie movies, because that felt like closing a chapter that i didn’t even know i’d left open. runner up is something slightly cursed encouraged by @xar626 whether she knew it or not where i returned to something I wrote this summer and it turned out it was 2k about a very pivotal blowjob. which i consequently wrote in comic sans. it needs at least another 2k before it’ll be ready for polite society

Which work are you proudest of?

AMARYLLIS i forgot i posted Amaryllis this year. i am so proud of it

Is there anything you are proud of that you achieved this year?

i’ve had brief shining moments where i’ve been writing every day and i’m proud of that. i absolutely believe that it was what allowed me to pass the big test i took this year because i had practice quickly organizing my thoughts and putting them to page

Did you explore anything new this year?

i learned to crochet! i took a class and then i was like yeah this is the life so i’ve crocheted a hat a lot of granny squares with my scrap yarn and am working on a strawberry bag

Which work gave you the most difficulty?

shout out to that time i got caught writing porn on a plane this year and i was like i have to post this or it’ll mean NOTHING and it still isn’t posted because i’m only halfway through revising and i have negative sixteen ideas for a title

What was your biggest creative challenge this year?

i found myself in multiple situations this year where i was confronted with something genuinely close to my worst fears in term of my PTSD, and in both situations i was required to do my absolute best on creative work, once taking a test (lots of writing!) and once playing in the pit in a very long and difficult production. being able to tap into my skills and perform to my best ability was one of the hardest things i’ve ever done and THEN i cut my finger and had to do 3 shows without use of a finger. so that was exceptionally challenging but i succeeded and overcame!

Which work brought you the most joy?

be on your way for sure, first serious smut i’ve ever published and a rarepair passion project. loved writing it and loved posting it

Which of your works do you think people should check out?

i would say i write pretty varied stuff, a lot of it is about grief and a lot of it is angst, so it’s hard to say but i think the series love, persevering is some of my best writing. prompt fills are all under #prompts and my ao3 is here

Do you have creative plans for next year? Is there anything exciting you’re currently working on?

i do want to set myself the goal of posting a lot of the fic on my phone if i can get it up to my personal standard. i’m really nervous about posting it because it’s a big departure from the type of thing i normally write and it’s also for a pairing that is very personal for me, i also know that it’s for something that’s older so i know it won’t be that popular which is always something that makes posting less fun

in terms of music, this is the year i fully learn the prelude to Bach’s 6th cello suite, it’s one of the most beautiful pieces of all time imo. i am also very fortunate in that i’ll get to play Largo from Dvorak’s New World which has been a dream of mine for a long time, plus i get the beautiful little solo 💖 and in terms of fiber arts, it’s the year i finally knit a sweater (or three) and crochet a couple blankets

Lastly, any words of wisdom or advice you’d like to share?

i think writing a lot and posting almost nothing has reminded me why i write, and that’s just because i love it. the external validation is nice and important but if you’re writing just for that, you will inevitably lose your joy for it, which is what happened to me in 2022. set goals for yourself, write what comes naturally, and you can keep it forever or post it, whatever serves you.

tagging @goldheartedsky @sigurism @godihatethisfreakingcat @scorchedhearth @shatterthefragments @bakingmoomins and anyone else who would like to 🌸 important note this doesn’t have to just be about writing!! Anything creative goes

[kedreeva]

Hey, I just wanted to say I read your post about your friend Steel, and her story is beautiful. I was a baby in fandom like you, and to some, I still am. I’ve had Steel’s and lost them.

Mentor relationships are truly some of the most beautiful, genuine, and important steps of a person’s life regardless of age, and I’m sure mentoring you and the other littles meant just as much to Steel as it meant it to you. I’m sorry she passed, but I’m very grateful that you’re sharing her wisdom.

Thank you for helping make fandom spaces what they are— I certainly wouldn’t be where I am without the older members making me feel at home. I remember reading fics when I was twelve written by people with children, hoping I would maintain my love of fiction when I was older and had responsibilities. It’s been a long time since then, and these spaces are still the safest ones I know.

Normally I’d apologize to a stranger for sending them an essay, but you have made your blog a space that I feel safe sharing and you deserve to know that your words are heard. Thank you for sharing them.

You can call me Mundie, if you like. Post this publicly, answer privately, or not answer at all. 💕

Hello Mundie! I'm Ked.

I'll be honest, I've cried SEVERAL times now over reading that so many other people remembered Steelsong (and that so many people got their roots in GW), and people sharing their own fandom mentors with the world in the tags and reblogs. It can be so difficult these days to remember that fandom is a a community, not a product, and that we're connecting to actual human beings, not stereotypes, not drones, not facelessly-generated content. Everything has just gotten so big.

I appreciate you taking the time to write to me, especially an essay; it's connection! It's the link that's often missing. It is a strange relief to hear you are heard. It is a comfort to know that Steelsong's name is being spoken by others. I almost didn't publish that post. Grief happened to hit the button for the first time in a long time, and I almost didn't share because I wasn't sure it would matter to anyone else. But it seems it did, and I cannot express enough gratitude for the resulting kindnesses.

So, thank you. For your kindness, for reaching out, for making it all feel like home. I hope your fandoms treat you well.